Samstag, 21. Juni 2008

The contour of the fluke of a spermwhale is like the fingerprint for a human, different for every individual. With the help of these pictures, it is possible to study the sperm whale population of the Azores and to gain insights into the group composition as well as to follow the track of individual animals. Many things to discover about these creatures!

A rare sighting on one of our last trips... A Leatherback Turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, crossed our way. Very fast swimming, almost like a dolphin, we could not believe what we saw. Then we identified the huge animal as a sea turtle!The leatherback turtle is the largest of all living turtles. It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell. Instead, the carapace of the leatherback turtle is covered by skin and the turtle's oily flesh. It has a cosmopolitan global range, and comes to the Azores with the Gulfstream, who also brings jellyfish, the turtle's main prey.

Yes the mid atlantic summer is approaching... clear water, flat sea, fish along the coast... A fisherman took the opportunity of these first nice hot days to catch some fish. Good place at the Areia Larga lava fields with Faial view... And I took my mask and snorkel and just jumped... :)))

Mittwoch, 11. Juni 2008

Incredible... A japonese film shows the longest record of a flying fish in the air - 45 seconds! The fish was able to continue flying by occasionally beating the surface of the water with its tail fin when it began to lose altitude. The previous record was 42 seconds, filmed by some Americans in the 1920s. Apparently the flight of 45 seconds is close to the fish's physical limit, as brachial respiration is impossible while flying in the air...See the video at http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=62203

Dienstag, 10. Juni 2008

A call from the vigia Antero... "Orcas!! Killer whales!! Where are you?! Jump in your boat and go!!" So, we jumped into the boat and went. 10 miles from Pico South Coast we found them, a pod of around 8 animals... difficult to spot with the waves and the afternoon light, but fortunately we had the best eyes of the island onboard... Emanuel made the critical spot to recatch them, and we could follow them for a short time...

Each time at surface, they approached the boat, circeled around and came diving underneath the boat... Incredible!! Such curious and beautiful animals, we could see them move in the Blue, quiet around the boat, then they continued their way westwards.

The most impressive animal of the group... the big male with the huge dorsal fin!! Up to 1,60m high, it is visible from far away. Where does this group come from, where do they go...? We don't know, and just enjoy the short company.

A sei whale mother with the calf, always swimming close together and surfacing at the same time. We had the privilege to share some moments with them on their way westwards towards Faial Capelinhos... After that, where may they go...?

Cruise ship approaching Ilheus! Will the ship reach safe Horta port? Yes, and we took them out on our boats to see whales and dolphins!

A new born sperm whale baby approaching the boat... We stopped the engine and watched the animal coming closer and closer, checking out the strange floating object on the water, then trying to socialize... looking for milk from the boat?? It could be that this baby was looking for company while the mother went for one of these long dives, hunting for squid in the deep sea... Anyway, some really impressive and unforgettable moments!

Inbetween the lava rocks, close to Anteros Vigia, a Shearwater bird preparing the nest. They come back every year to breed on the Azores, and Antero already knows his company since years. It seems that they are really used to his voice and stick the head out of their cave when he calls them...